Ok, stop getting your knickers in a twist, I’m here, I’m alive and rumours of my demise are greatly exaggerated! Yes, while it may have seemed like I fell off the World after sailing too close to the edge, the simple truth is I’ve been busy. Busy you say? Yes, busy I say! Busy working my butt off in order to ensure that I can continue to keep myself in the manner to which I’ve become accustomed. Anyway, let’s not kid ourselves that any of you lot really care one way or the other as I know only too well that you’re a pretty fickle bunch although you should feel free to disagree with me on that point. Still, it hasn’t been all work and no play, so if you have nothing better to be doing or you’re just bored at work then why not sit back and lose yourself in this brief rundown of what I’ve been up to for the last six weeks or so.

DJ Cash Money at the Savoy

Kanye West played in Cork at the beginning of July and one of my sister’s friends happened to be on the same plane when he flew in from London. I can just imagine what was going through his head when my sister’s very outgoing friend asked him “how’s it going Kanye” while they were waiting for their luggage, which was quickly followed by her sincere expression that everyone in Cork was “like really looking forward to the gig an’ all.” Ah well, you just can’t beat a bit of local colour! Anyway, I didn’t actually go the Kanye gig but I did drag myself and one other sorry soul to the after gig at the Savoy to hear DJ Cash Money spin some tunes. DJ Cash Money was World DJ Mixing Champion back in 1988, the same year he released his first album “Where’s The Party At?” on Sleeping Bag Records with an mc called Marvelous, a copy of which I’m holding in my hand as I write these very words. Featuring such classic tracks as “Find An Ugly Women” and “Ugly People Be Quiet” (not really sure what the whole ugly thing was all about), the prospect of seeing a genuine old school hip hop legend was too good an opportunity to pass up. And true to form, on the night Cash Money didn’t disappoint but as my partner in crime was pretty damn wrecked that Sunday evening, we had to leave just as things were getting lively but no worries, it was all good, they even had pole dancers, although I’m still trying to figure out what in the name of God they were doing there.

Doubletime at An Spailpin Fanach

Now onto something completely different. DJ Gary was back at An Spailpin Fanac in July with another terrific Doubletime night. For those of you that have never been, Doubletime is a swing jazz night, that’s dance music mainly from the forties and fifties in case you’re wondering. Gary played another excellent set of tunes that got us all out onto the packed dance floor shaking our booties and countless other dodgy body movements that are probably best left to your fertile imaginations! The great thing about a night like Doubletime is that it attracts such a nice good humoured bunch of people who are there because they like the music and because they like to dance. Also, there’s usually way more women than men, which from a guy’s perspective is never a bad thing. Yes, I think it would be fair to say that myself, Betty, RC and Super C had another fine time as Gary dropped those big band beats throughout the whole evening. Ok, so we all got a little freaked out when he stripped down to his vest and braces but luckily it didn’t go any further than that so like no real harm done I reckon. Anyway, I’m looking forward to the next week’s Doubletime and I would encourage all of you in Cork to try and make it, you know it makes sense.

Calibre at the Savoy

Ok, I’ve done some hip hop and some swing jazz, time for a little bit of drum and bass. For some strange reason, drum and bass seems to be a very hard sell amongst my small circle of friends and as I was pretty damn sure that I wouldn’t be able to convince anyone else to go, I had resigned myself to the fact that I would be all on my lonesome at the Calibre gig at the Savoy. That said, I’m not too easily deterred and such a small matter wasn’t going to the stop me from going. Even so, I did spend a bit of time on the forums at irishdrumandbass.com earlier that afternoon on the off chance I might strike up a conversation with someone that might be going and would take pity on me and my sorry plight. In fairness, Source, who was playing support on the night, did invite me to come up and say hello with a promise that he wouldn’t be too much of a langer about it if he hadn’t had too much to drink. Apart from that, the other main conversation thread was some geezer going by the monicker of “Pat da Butcher” bemoaning the fact that he couldn’t go as he couldn’t get a babysitter. The night itself turned out to be a rather intimate affair in the mezzanine section of the Savoy and after around half an hour I could no longer take any more and I simply had to start dancing. Calibre was good, damn good and too good in fact as the tunes he spun were responsible for keeping me dancing for over two and half hours, which quite simply left me swimming in my own sweat by the end of the night. (Sorry, were some of you eating? Please accept my apologies for inducing involuntary retching with that previous comment.) Anyway, what’s the last thing you need when you’re steeped in the fetching odour of your own sweat and are even beginning to disgust yourself? Well, I’m not sure but someone in the crowd calling out your name is probably not high up on the list. Bizarrely, it turns out that the aforementioned “Pat da Butcher” is someone I knew years ago and as it turns out, he did in fact manage to get a babysitter in the end and also happens to be well in with Jet Li (plain old Brian to his friends) and his inner circle of drum and bass good fellas. So at the next drum and bass night, I might actually know one or two people and hopefully will meet a few more of the local drum and bass heads as well. Finally, I was also introduced to a guy called Tim (now I’m tall but feck, this guy was like tall with a capital frickin’ T), who told me that I was “throwing shapes royal style” on the dance floor... look, I don’t care what the rest of you lot reckon, I’m taking it as a compliment.

Qool DJ Marv at the Savoy

Last Sunday, I went to see Qool DJ Marv at the Savoy. Qool DJ Marv is a hip hop dj from New York who has played all over the world and is a favourite at celebrity and entertainment industry shindigs. One of the first things I noticed when I got there was that the place was full of girls in hot pants. Now I’ve always been fond of girls in mini skirts (heh, I’m a man, we’re weak and easily pleased) but I swear to God, hot pants just take the biscuit! Come on, there’s just no way that those things can be legal and if that wasn’t bad enough, every girl wearing a hot pants had also decided to wear the tightest feckin’ top that they could find and then, just to add that final touch of class, most of these girls had completed their ensemble with a pair of FMB’s. Suffice it to say, the droolometer (something I picked up from China Blue) was well off the scale for most of the evening. Anyway, what was I talking about, oh yeah, Qool DJ Marv. Stevie G, who was playing support on the night, started things off with a great set and was followed by the man himself. Marv played some really great tunes, I particularly enjoyed “Witness” by Roots Manuva and “The Show” by Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew brought big smiles to my face, Marv even played a Slick Rick track. Yes indeed, I’ve gotta be honest, it was another great hip hop night at the Savoy. Also, I was chatting briefly to Stevie G, who has some good pictures of the evening on his blog. By the way, did I mention the girls in hot pants?

I’m afraid that’s pretty much it on the music front. I’m looking forward to seeing WWO, a Polish hip hop group, at Cyprus Avenue tomorrow night. Also, I’m very excited by the news that Public Enemy will be playing at the Savoy in October. As I mentioned earlier, Doubletime is on next week and is well worth checking out. Finally, if you haven’t checked out the Roaring Forties website in while, they have some pictures from their trip to the USA, which are worth a look. I haven’t seen them play in ages and it would be nice if they did a gig in Cork sooner rather than later.

Labels: DJs, Drum'n'Bass, Hip Hop, Swing Jazz

# Forged from the fiery depths by Pure Cork Boy.